YouSaid · the spoken record

Druet

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17

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2022-05-23

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2022-05-23

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1

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un-security-council

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1. “In conclusion, today’s discussion engages two very distinct yet deeply interlinked sets of issues: first, how digital technologies are changing the nature of conflict in situations in which the United Nations is engaged; and, secondly, how the United Nations itself employs digital technologies in the service of its mandates. Both require nuanced consideration and debate as well as distinct policy and operational responses. It is vital to the success of our current and future operations that we get both sets of issues right. The Council has a critical role to play in that regard.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

2. “Those efforts should include a frank reckoning on the limits of the ability of the United Nations to protect sensitive information, especially individual information, from intrusions by State and non-State actors and a subsequent review of practices around, for example, the gathering of biometric data during the course of humanitarian operations. That review should also include the development of further guidance on how the United Nations shares information with non-United Nations forces, including parallel military forces, host authorities and international rule-of-law actors, in line with the United Nations Due Diligence Policy on Human Rights.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

3. “I therefore urge the Secretariat to develop its own organic tools, policies and procedures that take the distinct nature of the United Nations as a user of those technologies into account. There is already valuable work to that effect under way, including in the Department of Peace Operations, which is working to enrich its policies on monitoring and surveillance, and also in the United Nations-wide efforts led by United Nations Global Pulse to roll out a data privacy policy across the system. If done well, and in full transparency of Member States and the public, I believe that those efforts have an important normative effect in setting the standard for how sensitive technologies can be used responsibly in conflict situations with vulnerable populations.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

4. “While it may be tempting to adopt the frames and doctrine of Member States for the use of those tools, I would submit to the Council that United Nations operations are distinct in their interests and responsibilities when using sensitive technologies in conflict settings. Therefore, as a fourth recommendation, I would like to highlight the importance of the ways in which the United Nations acquires and uses new technologies to the credibility and political positioning of those missions in the field. Experience has shown that the procurement of, and partnerships for, sensitive new technologies are most effective when they reinforce the impartiality of the United Nations and provide credible public assurances of responsible use.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

5. “Thirdly, the United Nations itself will require new technologies and the capacities to use them effectively, both in the field of communications and in the areas of situational awareness and peacekeeping intelligence, data analytics for strategic planning and new technologies for dialogue and mediation, to name just a few. As the United Nations pushes forward with many exciting innovations in those areas, including those highlighted by Ms. DiCarlo, it is vital that we recognize that those tools bring with them important and complex ethical, legal and political questions that have a bearing on the rights of people already suffering under conflict.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

6. “That is no easy task when some United Nations activities such as the protection of civilians or support to host State authorities can leave missions open to criticisms — sometimes warranted, sometimes not — and even more so when those missions are the target of disinformation campaigns. That is why, as a second priority, United Nations peace operations need to significantly scale up their capacities to monitor and analyse the information space and to respond effectively in the face of malicious communications. To quote a recent report from the International Peace Institute, missions need to “anticipate crises and proactively reframe the narrative, to engage in two-way rather than one-way communication” and “to tailor their messages to specific audiences”.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

7. “Access to accurate information can be increasingly considered as a human right in situations of information warfare, and the United Nations has a role in truth-telling and as a conduit for reliable information. I should point out that that is a role that United Nations missions have played for many years within the mechanisms of peace processes, for example, through ceasefire monitoring. So it bears considering how good practices developed through those mechanisms could be brought to bear to inform societies more broadly in conflict. For the United Nations to play such a role, however, it will be critical that its operations gain and keep the trust of different facets of the population.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

8. “That translates into better-informed detection of threats and more rapid action to protect civilians and, of course, to ensure the safety and security of United Nations personnel. In that context, I would like to offer some thoughts for the Council’s consideration on how the United Nations can adapt to the impacts of digital technologies on conflict, mitigate the negative impacts of those technologies on their own operations and use digital technologies more effectively and responsibly in those contexts. In that regard, I see four areas in particular. First, the United Nations should take on a more explicit and deliberate role as an information actor in conflict environments.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

9. “But it is equally important to acknowledge the role played by digital technologies in enabling the United Nations to effectively execute its mandates in modern conflict environments. United Nations peace operations in Somalia and Mali, for example, are making use of natural language processing technologies to rapidly gain a nuanced understanding of local perceptions and national political discourse. Monitoring and surveillance technologies such as unarmed unmanned aerial systems are being used with increasingly effective integration into mission-wide qualitative and quantitative data-gathering tools and analysis systems to generate higher-quality peacekeeping intelligence.”

   2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

10. “In Mali, for example, disinformation targeting the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali from some local power brokers appears aimed at undermining Mission operations that would disrupt illegal economic networks. In other cases, disinformation actors seem to be motivated by ideological objectives, while in still other situations the United Nations seems to provide an effective foil for a host State or its partners seeking to deflect attention from its performance in delivering security and services to its population. Whatever the motivations, those attacks grievously reduce United Nations access to local populations in need, undermine its relationship with host Governments and parties to mediation and peace processes, and in some cases seriously threaten the safety and security of peacekeepers.”

    2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

11. “Turning to the second topic, on the impact on peace operations, as the centrality of digital technologies and of the narrative to the logic of war grows, United Nations operations deployed in those conflicts have inevitably been drawn into strategies by conflict parties to influence the outcome in their favour. In the Central African Republic, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic has been the target of deliberate campaigns aimed at undermining the credibility of the Mission in the eyes of the population. The motivations for those activities seem to differ widely depending on the setting and the actors involved.”

    2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

12. “In Afghanistan, civilians have spoken about the impact of the ever-present hum of unmanned aerial systems on their mental health, while in Myanmar the military junta has used its control over the Internet to target opponents of the 2021 coup d’état and limit their ability to communicate and organize. During the migrant crisis brought about by the conflict in Syria and more recently in the conflict in Ukraine, serious questions around informed consent for the collection and management of biometric data, including by humanitarian actors, have come to the fore.”

    2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

13. “Moreover, while social media companies make much of their work to combat disinformation on their platforms, the disclosure of internal documents from Facebook in 2021 revealed that content moderation resources were heavily skewed towards the United States and the West, while some fragile and conflict- affected settings were virtually ignored. In that regard, the Security Council has an opportunity to demand of social media companies that their responsibilities apply equally across their global reach. In addition to their impact on conflict dynamics, digital technologies are increasingly an important arena for the protection or deprivation of human rights in conflict settings.”

    2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

14. “More recently, the conflict in Ukraine has highlighted the centrality of public narrative to the strategies of most, if not all, parties to modern conflict. In many of the conflicts and fragile settings in which the United Nations is engaged, it is important to note that populations are distinctly vulnerable to misinformation and disinformation. Some countries, such as the Central African Republic, lack a traditional journalistic professional culture and media infrastructure, leaving people almost exclusively dependent on social media for news.”

    2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

15. “With regard to the first topic, on impact, the Council has heard on several previous occasions how digital technologies have served as accelerants of in- and out-group dynamics, platforms for the rapid spread of anti-information or misinformation and tools for the manipulation of populations, including by State, non-State and extremist actors. In Myanmar, for example, the unchecked incitement of violence on Facebook and algorithms that raised the profile of extreme ideas are well documented in contributing to the genocidal violence perpetrated against the Rohingya people. Since then, access to the Internet and communications has been used as a tool to control refugee populations in Cox’s Bazar.”

    2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

16. “Today I would like to offer my perspective on three interlinked topics — first, how digital technologies are reshaping the conflicts on which the Security Council is engaged; secondly, how those technologies and their use by parties to conflict and the United Nations itself impact the Organization’s efforts to prevent and resolve violence; and, thirdly, I would like to offer some suggestions to the Council on how the United Nations peace and security toolkit, especially its peace operations, can adapt to work more effectively and responsibly in those evolving contexts.”

    2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source

17. “Mr. Druet: I am very grateful for this opportunity and for the honour of briefing the Council on how evolving digital technologies impact the nature of violent conflict and on the implications that has for the efforts of the United Nations to prevent violence, sustain peace and alleviate suffering and war. As the Council President mentioned, I have participated in the development of the technological capabilities of the United Nations over several years, particularly from the perspective of situational awareness, analysis and peacekeeping intelligence. Today I conduct research on those issues at McGill University and provide advice to a variety of stakeholders on the intersections of technology, the nature of conflict and international peace and security interventions.”

    2022-05-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9039 (2022) · source